Homemade Baby Food (6-12 months)

- Submitted by Beryl

How to Prepare Baby Foods (6-12 months)?

Preparing Baby Foods at home may be a difficult task for first time mums and working mums. However with little practice, this task will become extremely easy and your baby can enjoy healthy, home-made food. Moreover, it reduces your grocery bill also. It is extremely important to note that every baby refuses to eat when they are offered a new kind of food. Keep offering the same food multiple times in a day, so that they gradually start to like the food.  One has to keep in mind that baby food has to be prepared with variety of ingredients so that they get nutrients from different types of food. Try to avoid sugar, salt and honey when preparing baby food. There is no need to prepare special food for babies and children after 12 months of age. They should be able to eat the same adults food when they reach their first birthday. When babies see the adults eating, they get a tendency to eat, so its best to offer some adult food, making some changes in its texture. Sometimes, its better to change your own food choices to suit the taste of babies, so that they can pick and eat from your plate.

While preparing baby food, you can add infant formula, cows milk or expressed breast milk into the food to make it even more healthy. In this page, lets see how to make baby foods at home. These foods can be offered to your baby from 6 to 8 months till they become about 12 to 14 months, depending on how they have developed so far. If you think that your baby is not ready for solid food, check with your family doctor for further advice. This can be given once a day and gradually increased to twice or thrice a day.

Tips to Remember while Feeding Babies

• Always check the temperature of food before offering it to baby
• Introduce one food at a time and wait for four to five days to see if there is any allergic reaction towards that food. Do not be in a hurry to introduce all kind of foods at a time.
• Give fruits first, before offering other types of food or vegetables.
• Check the taste of food before giving it to baby
• Try not to add sugar, salt or honey
• Try to offer the food multiple times in a day or several days, as most babies do not accept new food immediately.
• Always give small portion at a time, and make sure the baby has finished eating it before you offer the next one.
• The one who is offering the food to the baby needs to have lots of patience, as the baby may sometimes spit the food or even vomit it.
• Using a comfortable highchair to feed the baby is highly recommended
• Introduce meat like cooked minced chicken when they start eating solids. Do not think that babies cant digest them.

Recipe # 1 - How to Prepare Scrambled Eggs?

Ingredients

• Eggs-2
• Milk- 300 ml

NOTE: Milk can be anything like expressed breast milk, cow's milk or formula milk.

Method

1. First break open the eggs in a bowl.
2. Add milk into the same bowl. Whisk both the eggs and milk
3. Now switch on the stove and keep a nonstick frying pan. When it becomes hot, pour the prepared milk and egg mixture into it and cook over a low heat.
4. Stir in between with a wooden spoon. When the eggs are cooked properly, remove from the pan and allow it to cool
5. Switch off the stove. Serve.

Variations

• You can also add grated cheese to make it more healthy​

Recipe # 2 - How to Prepare Rice Pudding for Babies?

Ingredients

• Cooked rice - 1 cup
• Milk - 1 cup
• Vanilla - 3/4 tsp
• Sugar - 1 tbsp

Method

1. In a large bowl, take milk, sugar and cooked rice. Mix everything properly
2. Switch on the stove and heat a saucepan. Pour the already prepared mixture into this and allow it to heat in slow flame
3. Stir inbetween and wait till all the milk gets absorbed. Now add vanilla and stir.
4. Remove from the stove and allow it to cool. Switch off the stove.
5. Check the temperature before giving it to baby.

Recipe # 3 - How to Prepare Mince Meat Stew?

Ingredients

• Onion - 1/4 cup
• Carrot - 1/2 cup
• Celery - 1/2 cup
• Minced meat - 1/4 cup
• Cooking oil - 2 tsp

Method

1. Finely chop the onion and celery into small pieces. Wash, remove the skin and dice the carrots
2. Switch on the stove. Place a pan and pour cooking oil and allow it to become hot.
3. Add onions and saute it. When the onion become transparent, add carrots and celery and stir well.
4. Allow the vegetables to cook.
5. Now add minced meat and allow it to cook thoroughly. Add some water into the pan, so that it does not stick to the pan and form a stew.
6. Switch off the stove​. The mince stew is ready to serve now.

Recipe # 4 - How to make Blended Vegetables?

Ingredients

• Mixed vegetables- (Potatoes, Pumpkin, Carrot, Broccoli, Lettuce, Spinach, Zucchini, etc)- 2 cup

Method

1. Wash the vegetables, remove the skin where appropriate and cut into very small pieces.
2. Switch on the stove and place a sauce pan on the stove top. Add some water and allow it to boil.
3. Now add the finely chopped vegetables into the saucepan, cover and cook till all the vegetables are cooked properly. 
4. Switch off the stove. Using a spoon or strainer, press the vegetables to extract the juice.
5. Alternatively, use food processor or blender to puree it. The blended vegetables is ready to serve.

Recipe # 5 - How to make Fruit Pulp?

Ingredients

• Mixed fruits- (Apple, Pear, Peach etc.) - 1 cup

Method

1. Wash and cut the fruits into small pieces.
2. Switch on the stove and place a sauce pan. Add some water and fruits. Cover with a lid and allow the fruits to cook.
3. Now remove from the stove and allow it to cool. Switch off the stove.
4. Press the cooked fruits with a spoon.
5. Alternatively, use a blender, and make a puree. The fruit pulp is ready to serve now.

Recipe # 6 - How to make Steamed Fish/ Chicken?

Ingredients

• Chicken- 1 cup or Fish Fillet- 1 (Do not take fish and chicken together. Make with either one.)
• Salt - as needed

Method

1. Wash the fish or chicken under running tap water thoroughly. Cut into small pieces.
2. Switch on the stove and keep a saucepan. Add fish or chicken along with some water iand salt nto the saucepan.
3. Allow it to cook properly by covering with a lid.
4. When the fish or chicken is cooked properly, remove from the pan. Cook fish for about 10 minutes and chicken for 15 minutes. Switch off the stove
5. Remove all the bones and skin (if present) carefully. Make sure there is no bone inside the fish or chicken.
6. Shred it into tiny bits using hands or a blender. It is ready to serve. 

Recipe # 7 - How to make Rusk for Babies?

Ingredients

• Wholemeal Bread- 1 loaf

Method

1. Cut 4-5 cm crust from the sides of bread and then cut the crusts into fingers.
2. In a baking tray, spread these crusts. Bake the crusts in an oven for about 50 min to 1 hour till they become dry.
3. When the crusts are completely dried, remove them from oven. Allow it to cool and it is ready to serve.
4. Store the remaining rusks in refrigerator by placing them in an airtight bottle.

Recipe # 8 - How to make Custard?

Ingredients

• Egg - 1
• Milk - 150 ml
• Sugar - 1 tsp
• Vanilla essence - some drops (as necessary)

Method

1. In a big bowl, take all the ingredients and mix well.
2. Pour this into a ovensafe dish and keep it in a baking dish which has sufficient water to come halfway up the side of the dish
3. Now bake this in an oven and wait for it to set
4. Wait for it to cool and then it is ready to serve

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